Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Stacey Lowery Bretz, Special Assistant to the Provost for Academic Initiatives and University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Miami University will spend the year on our campus as part of the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows program. To be selected as a host institution by ACE is an honor in itself and recognition of our outstanding reputation as a national leader in American higher education by the organization.
Stacey Lowery Bretz is an internationally known scholar in chemistry education research, with particular expertise in the development of assessments to characterize both students’ understandings of chemistry representations and learning in the chemistry laboratory. She is a Fellow of both the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She currently serves as Chair of the ACS Division of Chemical Education. In 2020, Dr. Bretz was honored with the ACS Award for Achievement in Research on Teaching and Learning of Chemistry. She served on the National Research Council committee on discipline-based education research. She has been recognized with Miami University’s highest faculty honor, the Benjamin Harrison Medallion. Dr. Bretz is also the author of two general chemistry textbooks and an AP Chemistry textbook. At Miami, Dr. Bretz has chaired the Fiscal Priorities and Budget Planning Committee for 4 years. In her role as Special Assistant to the Provost for Academic Initiatives at Miami University, Dr. Bretz oversees and coordinates the Academic Program Evaluation, Improvement, and Prioritization process where she supports deans and department chairs as they advance key recommendations in the university’s strategic plan, including developing a data-driven culture to improve the academic portfolio and strategically allocate resources.
During her fellowship year here, Dr. Bretz will be working with members of our senior leadership team in the Offices of the Chancellor, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation to explore our practices and operations around issues of strategic budgeting, balancing affordability with sustained academic excellence, curriculum and pedagogy as they intersect with student success, and internationalization through research and innovation. Provost Cangellaris, Vice Chancellor Martinis and I will all be working closely with Dr. Bretz this year to ensure her experience at Illinois is memorable and productive.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Stacey Lowery Bretz to Illinois as a 2021-2022 ACE Fellow.
Sincerely,
Robert J. Jones
Chancellor
